Receivers? Cornerbacks? Aggies need them all

COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M needs receivers in a big way, so Aggies coach Mike Sherman has added one during spring drills.

From another position of need in a big way. Sherman has switched Lionel Smith from cornerback to receiver this spring, with the idea that if there ever was a time to mix and try to match, it’s now. About four months from the time training camp starts.

“(Smith) was a receiver in high school and we looked at him at corner all last season,” Sherman said Tuesday after practice. “We have a fair amount of guys coming in at (cornerback).”

The sophomore Smith, who’s 6 foot and 174 pounds, is an interesting story in that Hurricane Katrina drove him and his family from their New Orleans-area home in summer 2005. They landed near Bellaire, and he began playing defensive back and receiver for the first time for the Cardinals.

He’d played quarterback and running back at St. Bernard High back home in Louisiana.

“He was a heck of a receiver in high school and we want to give him an opportunity to show what he can do,” Sherman said. “So that’s why we moved him.”

The Aggies, who finished 4-8 last year in Sherman’s first season, signed seven defensive backs in February, including junior-college cornerback Coryell Judie. Still, A&M is paper thin at cornerback, but it’s thin at receiver as well, outside of sophomores Ryan Tannehill and Jeff Fuller.

Sherman also said Tuesday the Aggies have switched Keon Furtch from safety to tight end and Cole Graybill from linebacker to fullback.

Smith’s shift, however, is the one that has the potential to make the most difference in this offense. Because the Aggies need receivers — lots of receivers. Of course, they need cornerbacks, as well. They should get help at both positions this summer, when the new class (including four receivers) arrives.